Conference Among Elders
The clock had struck midnight in the land of wind, the skies of the desert overtaken by darkness. With the children asleep, their dreams of becoming able shinobi lingering in the night sky, the elders of Sunagakure gathered within the Kazekage's Office, where a meeting was to take place shortly. Among several others in attendance, were Kankuro and Temari, two shinobi who held immense respect wtihin the village. The two were also the respective aunt and uncle of Kazaru, the Seventh Kazekage, whose actions had forced such a meeting in the first place. Other guests included Baki, Sekka and Kazaru's very own mother, Mitsuri, comprising some of the village's most trusted elders. The meeting officially began, as Kazaru took his seat, at the very end of the table, parallel to Baki, his vanilla white kage robes complimenting his signature hat, with the kanji for wind (風) inscribed on it. "I'd like to thank you all for finding the time in your busy lives to come here at this very moment." Kazaru began, his elbows resting on the arms of the chair. "Kazaru-kun, congratulations on successfully securing the protection of our people against those intruders." Ebizo muttered, his voice wrinkled in dust. He was arguably the most well known man within the entire village, topping 100 years of age. He had a habit of speaking out of line, something the others had grown quite accustom towards. "As to be expected by Lord Seventh." Baki added, not a single gleam of emotion displayed on his face. He turned to face Kazaru, his headdress concealing one side of his face. "Your father would have been very proud." "Gaara..." Temari whispered, lowering her face to symbolize the amount of respect she had garnered for her deceased, younger brother. "A little too close for comfort, if you ask me." Kankuro interrupted, the expression on his face indicating that he was not the least bit of enthusiastic in regards to the situation. "The Kazekage must depend on his advisors more often to carry out his tasks, rather than command the evacuation of his entire village. There was no reason for him to have concerned himself with scum like them." "Yes, I agree. Kazaru, you are often much too independent, you must learn to rely on your nakama." Temari added, raising her head from it's earlier position. "I was just doing what was best for the village. After all, one of my opponents did wield the Rinnegan in both eyes." Kazaru explained. "Rinnegan?" Ebizo questioned in disbelief. "Then why, did you all them to get away, Lord Kazekage?" Baki retorted, a stressful bead of sweat pouring down the displayed side of his face. Kazaru closed his eyes gently, recalling the memory. "Spilled blood would do us no good in our current state. It would have only led to more war." "Then we must form alliances! We must seek help from neighboring villages... surely..." Sekka's voice faded, with his eyes lowering towards the table. "I'm afraid villages aren't quite like they were in the past. Everyone is independent and against one another these days. It is impossible to risk such trust." Kazaru stated, his arms folding across his chest. "Either way, besides our vast production of silver, there is not much we could provide in return." "We must focus on preparing the village from any further danger. If other villages are targeting us, we must tighten our defenses." Baki declared, his head turning to examine his former table mates. "If it were not for Kazaru, we would never have seen those guys coming in the first place. We need shinobi capable of providing him with help, instead of leaving all the work to him." Kankuro suggested. "That would require sensory shinobi to be present in all borders of the village at all times. We simply do not have that talent at the moment." Temari admitted. "We are relying on binoculars of all things to locate trespassers. Our barrier strength is as pathetic as it ever has been, and our own villagers are beginning to bear doubts. Changes must be made." With the last statement, all eyes turned towards Kazaru. The reigning Kazekage sighed.